Description: As the author notes, experimental chemists have moved past studying the average behavior of atoms or molecules "to probe the step-by-step behavior of individual atoms and molecules as they collide, form 'transition states, ' and ultimately form products". In such experiments, quantum mechanical computations do two useful tasks: they fill in the observational gaps and help to interpret what has been observed. One of the great values of this introductory course -- developed by the chairman of the chemistry department at the University of New Hampshire -- is its calculations and diagrams, which were created specifically for this text and which students will be able to replicate on their home computers. The text will be most useful for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate students who have had calculus and at least a year of undergraduate physics. A knowledge of differential equations, linear algebra, and atomic physics is helpful but not essential. Seven appendices give a concise exposition of mathematical and physical material that may not be part of the students' background.

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